List of inventors of writing systems

This is a chronological list of any individuals, legendary or real, who are purported by traditions to have invented alphabets or other writing systems, whether this is proven or not.

• Enos - Biblical patriarch, ascribed introduction of consonantal Ge'ez alphabet c. 3350 BC (?) according to tradition.
• Thoth - mythical Egyptian deity, ascribed invention of Egyptian hieroglyphics c. 3000 BC (?) according to tradition.
• Fu Hsi - legendary Chinese king, ascribed invention of Chinese characters c. 2850 BC (?) according to tradition.
• Cangjie - legendary Chinese scribe, also ascribed invention of Chinese characters c. 2650 BC (?) according to tradition.
• Enmerkar - legendary Sumerian king, ascribed invention of cuneiform c. 2300 BC (?) according to Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta epic.
• Fenius Farsa - legendary Scythian king, ascribed invention of Ogham writing c. 2000 BC (?) according to tradition.
• Ogma - legendary Irish deified chieftain, also ascribed invention of Ogham writing c. 1875 BC (?) according to tradition.
• Cadmus - legendary Phoenician prince, ascribed invention of Greek alphabet c. 1350 BC (?) according to tradition.
• Evander - legendary Roman hero, ascribed adoption of Greek alphabet to Latin alphabet c. 1250 BC (?) according to tradition
• Pharnavaz I of Iberia - Iberian king, ascribed development of Georgian alphabet in 284 BC, according to tradition.
• Marcus Tullius Tiro - Roman secretary, ascribed invention of Tironian notes shorthand c. 63 BC, according to tradition.
• Ulfilas, Goth missionary, believed to have invented Gothic alphabet c. 350 AD , according to tradition.
• Saint Mesrob - Armenian monk, created the Armenian alphabet in c. 405.
• Thonmi Sambhota - legendary Tibetan scribe, ascribed invention of Tibetan script c. 650, according to tradition.
• Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi was born in Central Asia (c.778 - c.850) created the notations of: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0.
• Kūkai - Japanese monk, ascribed invention of Kana syllabary c. 806, according to tradition.
• Saint Cyril - Greek monk, believed to have created Glagolitic alphabet c. 863.
• Sirijonga - Nepalese king, ascribed invention of Limbu alphabet c. 880, according to tradition.
• Saint Clement of Ohrid - Bulgarian archbishop, ascribed invention of Cyrillic alphabet c. 900, according to tradition.
• Diela - Manchurian scribe, ascribed creation of Khitan script ca. 925
• Yeli Renrong - Tangut scholar, invented Tangut script in 1036.
• Wanyan Xiyin - Manchurian scribe, invented Jurchen script in 1120.
• Hildegard of Bingen - German nun, invented Litterae ignotae c. 1150.
• Honorius of Thebes - possibly mythical author, ascribed invention of Theban alphabet c. 1220 (?).
• Dhawan Turi - possibly mythical, ascribed invention of Varang Kshitri alphabet c. 1250 (?)
• Moubao Azong - Tibetan king, ascribed invention of Dongba script, c. 1250 (?), according to tradition.
• Chögyal Phagpa - Tibetan monk, invented Phagspa script in 1269.
• Ramkhamhaeng the Great - Thai king, ascribed invention of Thai alphabet in 1283, according to tradition.
• Saint Shahjalal - Bengali, ascribed invention of Syloti Nagri alphabet c. 1300, according to tradition.
• Stephen of Perm - Russian missionary, invented the Old Permic script alphabet in 1372.
• Sejong the Great of Joseon - Korean king, have invented Hangul writing in c. 1443, promulgated in 1446.
• Johannes Pantheus - German author, invented Enochian alphabet in 1478.
• Johannes Trithemius - German cryptographer, invented an "Angelic" (magical) alphabet in 1499.
• Thomas More - English author, invented Utopian alphabet in 1516
• Paracelsus - Swiss alchemist, invented Alphabet of the Magi c. 1520.
• Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa - German alchemist, created the Transitus Fluvii, Malachim, and Celestial Alphabets, c. 1525.
• Guru Angad Dev - Sikh Guru, ascribed invention of Gurmukhi script c. 1539 according to tradition.
• John Dee - English alchemist, invented another Enochian alphabet ca. 1582.
• Timothy Bright - English, invented Characterie shorthand in 1588.
• Nurhaci (king), or possibly his translators Erdeni and Gagai ? - Manchurians, created Manchu alphabet in 1599.
• John Willis - English, invented a system of shorthand in 1602
• Alexandre de Rhodes - French missionary, developed Vietnamese alphabet c. 1624, adapting the Roman alphabet
• Thomas Shelton - English translator, developed Short Writing, an early shorthand, in 1626.
• Zaya Pandit - Kalmuk lama, developed Todo script in 1648.
• Jeremiah Rich - English, invented a system of shorthand in 1654.
• Francis Lodwick - Dutch linguist, invented Universal Alphabet in 1686.
• Bogdo Zanabazar - Mongolian monk, created Soyombo script in 1686.
• Thikúng Men Salóng - Bhutanese scholar, invented Lepcha script some time around 1700.
• George Psalmanazar - European impostor and scholar, invented a (fraudulent) Formosan alphabet in 1704.
• John Byrom - British poet, invented a system of shorthand c. 1715.
• Benjamin Franklin - American statesman, developed Benjamin Franklin's phonetic alphabet ca. 1768.
• Samuel Taylor - American, invented Universal Stenography system of shorthand in 1792.
• Franz Xaver Gabelsberger - German secretary, invented Gabelsberger shorthand around 1817.
• Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, Serbian linguist, developed Serbian Cyrillic alphabet c. 1818, adapting Cyrillic alphabet.
• Sequoyah, Cherokee silversmith, believed to have invented Cherokee syllabary c. 1819.
• Louis Braille - French teacher, invented Braille writing around 1821.
• Duala Bukare - Liberian, invented syllabary for Vai language around 1833.
• Samuel F. B. Morse - American inventor, invented Morse code c. 1835.
• Isaac Pitman - British teacher, invented Pitman shorthand in 1837.
• James Evans - Canadian missionary, invented a syllbary used for Ojibwe and Cree c. 1840, these days referred to as Cree syllabics.
• Beitha Kukju - Albanian, invented the Beitha Kukju alphabet in 1840.
• Karl Richard Lepsius - German linguist, developed Standard Alphabet by Lepsius c. 1855.
• George D. Watt and Parley P. Pratt - American Mormon leaders, developed Deseret alphabet ca. 1855.
• Alexander Melville Bell - American teacher, invented Visible Speech in 1867
• William Bell Wait - American teacher, invented New York Point system in 1868.
• Anton Bezenšek - Slovenian linguist, developed Bezenšek Shorthand c. 1879
• Adrien-Gabriel Morice - French, developed Carrier syllabary c. 1885.
• John Robert Gregg - Irish author, invented Gregg Shorthand c. 1888.
• John William Tims - American, developed Blackfoot syllabary c. 1890.
• Uyaquk - Yupik (Alaska Native) missionary, invented Yugtun script c. 1900.
• Robert Boyd - American, invented Boyd's Syllabic Shorthand in 1903.
• Sam Pollard - British missionary, invented Pollard script in 1905.
• Afáka Atumisi - Surinamian, invented Afaka script in 1908.
• Zhang Binglin - Chinese linguist, invented shorthand that was developed into Zhuyin in 1913.
• James O. Fraser - Scottish missionary, invented Fraser alphabet c. 1915.
• Kisimi Kamala - Sierra Leonean, invented Mende syllabary, Ki-ka-ku, in 1921.
• Cismaan Yuusuf Keenadiid - Somali, invented Osmanya script c. 1921.
• Reginald John Garfield Dutton - British, invented Dutton Speedwords shorthand in 1922.
• Pandit Raghunath Murmu - Indian, created Ol Chiki script in 1925.
• Ong Kommadam - Laotian freedom fighter, developed the Khom script, first used 1926.
• Diedrich Westermann - German missionary, developed Africa Alphabet in 1928.
• J. R. R. Tolkien - British author, invented the Tengwar and Sarati c. 1930.
• Tenevil - Chukchi raindeer herder, developed a writing system for Chukchi language c. 1931.
• Celadet Elî Bedirxan - Kurd linguist, developed Kurdish alphabet in 1932.
• Charles A. Thomas - invented Thomas Natural Shorthand in 1935.
• Chief Gbili - Liberian, invented Kpelle syllabary ca. 1935.
• Wido Zobo - Liberian, invented Loma syllabary ca. 1935.
• Mangei Gomango - Indian, invented Sorang Sompeng script in 1936.
• Solomana Kante - Guinean author, invented the N'Ko alphabet in 1949.
• Charles K. Bliss - Australian engineer, invented Blissymbolics ca. 1949.
• C. Theo Yerian and Carl W. Salser - American teachers, developed Personal Shorthand c. 1955.
• John R. Malone - American, developed the UNIFON alphabet ca. 1955.
• Shong Lue Yang - Laotian, created Pahawh Hmong alphabet in 1959.
• Bakri Sapalo - Oromo from Ethiopia, invented syllabary
• Peter Benjamin Graham - Australian artist, invented New Epoch Notation Painting in 1964.
• Ronald Kingsley Read - British, invented the Shavian (early 1960s) and Quikscript (1966) writing systems.
• James Hill - British, developed Teeline Shorthand in 1970.
• Valerie Sutton - American choreographer, developed MovementWriting for transcribing dance in 1972 and SignWriting for transcribing sign languages in 1974.
• Ali Moslehi Moslehabadi - Iranian comparative linguist, developed IPA2, also known as Pársik in 2004.
• Gregg M. Cox - linguist who developed the Coorgi-Cox alphabet in 2005

v • d • e Writing systems Overview History of writing · History of the alphabet · Graphemes Lists Writing systems · Languages by writing system / by first written account · Undeciphered writing systems · Inventors of writing systems Types Alphabets · Abjads · Abugidas · Syllabaries · Ideogrammic · Pictographic · Logographic

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